Do you see anything wrong? I copy/pasted the ahk_class from Window Spy.

Try changing back from the sticky class to notepad and see if it works. If it does then the issue is with the stickies. If not then it doesn't like the flight simulator class.

Divide and conquer.

Edit: Also sometimes scripts that don't work will start working when compiled. There is a new AHK release. I would install it if you haven't already: http://ahkscript.org/

Click downloaf then Installer

Edit2: The other thing is Stickies may not be a simple single window program. I don't have it myself. But it might be you need to use ahk_parent in the ControlSend call. See ControlSend in the help.Also you could post a question in the ahk forums. I have not had the need to use ControlSend. Someone on the forum probably knows all the tricks to using it.

Thanks to all you fine people I have enjoyed a day of flying by the checklist. Checklists are handy for making sure one doesn't set down on a runway with the landing gear still in the belly of the airplane. I'm not mentioning any names, but I am personally aware of a sim pilot doing an unintentional "belly" landing more than once when attempting to fly without following a checklist.

@wraith808 - I will have to spend more time working with the OverlayTool. One thing which will need to be looked at is it opens text files with all carriage returns removed resulting in one large block of text.

@MilesAhead - I have only been able to make the AHK script work with Notepad and Notezilla, so far. I am not sure whether the script is compiled or not. All I have figured out is to reload the script once I get everything. Regardless, your script works well trapping the trigger key. I have programmed a button on my flight stick to send "DOWNARROW" keystroke which effectually moves the checklist down one line per my request. Thank you.

@App103 - Thanks for the nod toward Notezilla for my present need. I will look forward to learning more as time goes on.

@mouser - Thanks for creating the "Desktop Coral." It works quite intuitively which is a good thing.

@TaoPhoenix - Thanks for the perspective. I suspected it would take something deeper. Fortunately, AHK filled that requirement.

dr_andus - Thanks for the heads-up on "Desktop Coral." Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get a handle on Samurize. Maybe I will if I read up on it on the site when I get a chance. In the meantime, be prepared for a salvo of questions.

Here is a summary of how I have been using the various parts to provide a very usable solution so far...

"Desktop Coral" - mouser's creation did allow a place at the bottom of my screen real estate where I was able to place the Notezilla window. I really liked "Desktop Coral's" ability to let me handle other things, like editing another text file, email and Firefox without getting in the way.

"Notezilla" - Using app103's suggestion had the capability of being border-less, reduced vertically to display only one line at a time, setting the background transparent or black and setting the font to red or green, depending if it was a day or night flight. It performed quite gracefully.

Thanks again to everyone. Your efforts have allowed me to add a very important utility to my flight simulation experience. I will pass this on to all my fellow simpilots. I could not have done it without you.

One last note to pass on...

When I first came to DonationCoder.com I was fairly stout and healthy man of 50-ish. I was also actively taking flight lessons to get my real-world pilot's license. Since that time my health has almost reduced me to an invalid which has so far prevented me from returning to my OTR truck and achieving my pilot credentials, but I live in hope. Thanks to the wonder of consumer flight simulation technology and my family's generosity in constructing and furnishing me with a "simpit," I am able to participate in almost-flying, or as far as one can with a simulator. So, you can see why your contributions to getting me one step closer to a "Suspension of Disbelief" (the Holy Grail of flight simulation) has added to the quality of my life.

Figured out what it probably is- your file could actually be interpreted as markdown, so it was parsed as such. I'm going to make it a bit smarter and stupider at the same time, and parse it strictly based on the extension of the file. I'll have something up this evening.

FYI - It looks like I may have spoke too soon... Notezilla has taken to deleting my checklist in random fashion. Everything was working until this evening when I went to open the checklist it was gone! This happened before. Perhaps it has something to do with the other programs, but I can't keep recreating the checklist. Seems like it would keep the file intact, but it didn't. It just deleted it. Not sure where to go at this point? Sad, really. It was working so perfect. I will probably try again and see what may be the culprit.

It works well with Desktop Corral, but without it the "Always on Top" is not working AFAICT. At least it will not remain on top of the flight simulator window.

If you want to add some things to your app you could add these features...

The ability to change font color (or tell me where I can find the setting).

The ability to change the font size. I use 12, 14 and 16 in my other programs I use.

The ability to hide the titlebar

Perhaps move the settings/options menu to a right-click.

Add more transparency levels.

That's my wishlist so far, but feel free to include/exclude whatever you like.

Thanks.

Is your flight simulator running in windowed full screen? If it's not, I'm not sure that I'll be able to get on top of that... you might look at borderless gaming to see if you can get it windowed with the same effect that you want.

...Is your flight simulator running in windowed full screen? If it's not, I'm not sure that I'll be able to get on top of that... you might look at borderless gaming to see if you can get it windowed with the same effect that you want.

I have a couple of games that can go fullscreen rather than windowed full screen. I'll check with that.

Enter a new wrinkle... I cannot get my flightsim to go fullscreen. It just continues to flash on and off. I thought it might have been in a tug-of-war with Desktop Coral since it would take up all screen real estate, but it flashes even when Desktop Coral is not running. This is squarely in my court as I wouldn't expect y'all to troubleshoot my flightsim installation nor my PC. Unfortunately, this means I cannot run my flightsim in fullscreen. I have to run it in either a max or normal window. The good news is Desktop Coral and my flightsim (in windowed mode) do play nicely together which allows TextOverlayTool to reside at bottom of my screen under the flightsim window just like Notezilla did when it was working.

However, I have not been able to get the AHK script to trap the DOWNARROW with... ...ahk_class TextOverlayToolView that was stated previously or what WindowSpy defined... ...ahk_class HwndWrapper[TextOverlayTool.exe;;18b747ee-4167-4956-a02a-3c39195647fb]

FYI - Notezilla just opened and no longer had my checklist. It deleted it again. Maybe I am doing something wrong to trigger this behavior, but I don't know what it would be. I will work with the Conceptworld support from this point forward.

FloatingWords has been my goto StickyNote thing. but it's definitely more intrusive than you want.This is a great idea and may solve my problem of needing a constant reminder of Keys and Commands while playing a game. Thanks!

FYI - Notezilla just opened and no longer had my checklist. It deleted it again. Maybe I am doing something wrong to trigger this behavior, but I don't know what it would be.

When you close a note, are you clicking the X in the upper right of the bar? If so, that would be your problem. It's not a close button, like you are used to seeing in that location. It's a delete button. It was probably more clear that's what the button did in older versions, back when it used to look like a trash can and not an X.

To close a note, you'd need to click the white square (3rd from the right). That hides the note, which can then be opened again from within the Notes Browser.

I haven't been able to test extensively, but the testing I have done has not deleted my checklist/note yet. Besides, it makes sense. I have been hitting the "X" thinking it was a "Close" button like you surmised. I am glad you pointed me to it. Also, with your explanation I have been able to identify the "random" behavior. What was happening has been my random choice to open Notezilla (and therefore the checklist note) versus letting the automation handle it. I have been unwittingly deleting the checklist. The good news is Notezilla does not have this "bug." I thought my report was strange given the stability and popularity of the app.

Obviously, I haven't read the manual yet, but will do so as I need to discover the yet unknown capabilities. My apologies to Conceptworld and y'all for the inconvenience of a "false positive."

FloatingWords has been my goto StickyNote thing. but it's definitely more intrusive than you want.This is a great idea and may solve my problem of needing a constant reminder of Keys and Commands while playing a game. Thanks!

Just uploaded a new version of TextOverlayTool that might solve your problem. Again, it depends on whether your application is Full Screen, or Full Screen Windowed. If it's full screen, it would require a lot of low level coding and display via the mechanism it is using to draw, i.e. OpenGL or DirectX. If it's fullscreen windowed, this should work.

I have been hitting the "X" thinking it was a "Close" button like you surmised. I am glad you pointed me to it. Also, with your explanation I have been able to identify the "random" behavior. What was happening has been my random choice to open Notezilla (and therefore the checklist note) versus letting the automation handle it. I have been unwittingly deleting the checklist. The good news is Notezilla does not have this "bug." I thought my report was strange given the stability and popularity of the app.

I was using v7 when I recommended it to you, upgrading to v8 right after. Had I not done that, I wouldn't have known about the X even being there. As you can see in my original screenshots, it had the trash can there, instead of the X.

That change in the UI threw me off a bit at first, too. I was looking for the trash can when I wanted to delete a note, not immediately associating X with deleting (like you, my mind has been trained to think X in that position means close). I was hunting all over the place for the trash can.